1 red pepper chopped
1/4 red onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/3 c carrot shreds (bought packaged that way)
1 tsp olive oil
1 can beef broth
2 tbsp i can't believe its not butter
Saute vegetables in olive oil until tender. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to make a sauce. Add not butter to thicken just before adding spaetzle.
3 c flour
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 c water
2 eggs
1 tbsp crumbled dried mixed herbs
1 tbsp onion powder
Mix dry ingredients, then stir in water and eggs to form a soft dough. Drop using spaetzle maker into rapidly boiling salted water. Boil 3 minutes.
Add to sauce, toss to coat.
Portabello "Burgers"
This recipe is adapted from one I saw on the TV show Oliver's Twist. Yes, I may be dieting but I still love FoodTV. It gives me great ideas, and this is a recipe which comes together in just a little over fifteen minutes.
Preheat over to 400 degrees.
Strip leaves from 1 long stalk fresh rosemary and chop. Strip leaves from several stalks thyme -- about 2 tsp. Chop 2 large or 3 medium cloves garlic. Chop 2-3 scallions. Toss all these in a food processor with 4 oz "I Can't Believe Its Not Butter Light" and process until it forms a nice smooth mixture.
Brush 4 good sized portabello caps clean, and pull the center stems out. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the inside of each cap, and place on a cooking sheet. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.
While baking, take 4 bulkie rolls & slice. Find high fiber, low fat ones, if you can. Meijer low fat bulkies are good. I found out that Hannaford brand bulkies are also 2 points per bun, so I bought onion rolls. Spread a good quality dijon mustard on both halves of each bun (I used my favorite champagne garlic mustard). Wash 8 leaves of romaine lettuce and split in half. Four halves will be for each sandwich.
When the mushroom caps are done and cooled slightly, place one on the bottom half of each bun. Top with 4 lettuce leaf halves, then press the top half of the bun on. Extra butter will run off. Enjoy! Makes 4 sandwiches.
The flavor of the herbs soak into the mushroom cap while cooking, and a good amount of the butter soaks in and also runs off. So not as much butter is still on it when you eat it. These have excellent flavor, great texture, and are low in points. Yum!
I can't print these two recipes, since they are modifications of printed recipes from magazines I receive. But I think they really are good enough to share, and I'd like to also share the modifications I've done to them, because they certainly didn't seem to suffer at all from it -- we really liked both and intend to make both again!
Zucchini Pie
from Quick Cooking, Sept/Oct 2002, p. 61
First, I love this magazine, and its sister magazine Light & Tasty. Both provide me with a lot of fodder for cooking ideas. Few recipes survive my kitchen untouched, but I like a good source of ideas.
This one I looked and realized that with a refridgerated crescent roll crust, I needed to lighten it up if I wanted to try it. I first thought of using the low fat crescent rolls, but then I remembered an article on pies from Cooking Light, and picked up a box of Phyllo. I made the crust by layering Phyllo in the pie pan and spritzing it with spray butter, and then pre-baked the whole thing for a few minutes to make sure it didn't fold completely under the dampness of the sauteed zucchini.
The filling contains zucchini & garlic, sauteed in butter (which I reduced of course), and seasoned with dill, parsley, salt, and pepper. We're going to experiment with the herbs a little next time -- our only complaint was that it was a little bland. There's also cheese mixed in, and eggs, and some more cheese on top. We switched the cheese from all Monterey Jack to half that and half low fat Feta cheese, which dropped the fat more, and added more taste.
All told, the whole thing was YUM!
Slow-Cooked Turkey Wild Rice Casserole
Betty Crocker Slow Cooker Meals, p. 49
Okay, so the first thing I did was take out the turkey and use chicken instead. Normally I'd use plain old boneless skinless breasts, but well, I had the boneless skinless thighs instead so I used those. A little higher in fat, but I really *like* thigh meat. I also used the low fat cream of chicken soup instead of the normal stuff, but then, that's just a typical switch for me -- I never use the full fat stuff anymore. I also took out the bacon and simply used a couple of teaspoons of oil for the saute. I was supposed to cook bacon in a saute pan, and then use that to cook the turkey, carrots, onion, and celery -- so I just skipped the bacon.
Other than that, I just went as written. Added the wild rice (my favorite blend), the soup, the water, the soy sauce, the marjoram, and the pepper. Let it go in the crockpot until its done and YUM. This was good, light, and the wild rice just kind of filled up my tummy perfectly. This one is a definite keeper, and I'll make it again!!
This recipe came out of me being creative with making pieces of meals ahead of time, freezing them, and coming back to them later. The base for this is an enhanced taco meat.
2 lbs ground buffalo (or ultralean ground beef or ground turkey)
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes w/ garlic & onion
1 can red kidney beans, drained
Brown ground meat & drain fat. Remove from pan. Saute onions and garlic until they sweat. Because of the ground meat you won't need to add any oil at all to the pan. Once this is done, add back the meat. Add taco seasoning, chili powder, 1/2 c water, tomatoes (do not drain) and beans. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.
Makes 8 servings (4 pts each).
This is great over salad, or over baked potato... or on pizza.
1 pizza shell from Hannaford (120 cal per 1/3 shell)
1 serving taco meat
2 oz shredded montery jack cheese
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread taco meat over pizza shell. Sprinkle cheese over the top. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Makes 4 servings of 4 points each.
I don't know what I'll do when the winter comes and I don't have my fresh herbs anymore. I've had no luck growing anything other than lemon thyme indoors, and I will truly miss being able to go out and pick a random assortment of fresh herbs. As it is, I am drying my herbs so I can have a good supply without having to go buy things this fall. And mm, the dried herbs smell SO good.
3 pieces orange roughy, about 1 inch thick
1 tbsp light sage & rosemary butter (see below)
4 small sprigs sage
1 shallot
3 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 sprigs rosemary
Chop the shallots and garlic. Place in a skillet with the herb butter and turn on heat. Cook until translucent. Add lemon juice, then broth, and simmer. Chop sage and add to the mixture. Cook until broth is almost gone.
Use butter spray on three pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil. Place one piece of fish in the center of each piece of foil. Top each piece of fish with 1/3 shallot/garlic mixture, and one rosemary sprig. Fold foil into packets and crimp.
Cook on prepared grill over indirect heat for 11 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
Sage & Rosemary Butter
Mix 1 small tub I Can't Believe Its Not Butter Light with 1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary and 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage. Refrigerate to allow flavors to meld. Use in place of plain butter to flavor.
Thanks to Bridgette for the pointer to the particular wild rice blend we use in this. Its a great nutty blend that is 3 pts per serving, which is GREAT!
(12) 1 cup wild rice blend, uncooked
(0) 1 can beef stock, low sodium, fat free
(3) 1 can red kidney beans, drained
(0) 1 can diced tomates w/ garlic & onions
Cook the rice in the stock without any of the fat suggested in the cooking instructions. During the last several minutes, mix the kidney beans and tomatoes in a microwave safe serving bowl. Microwave 2 minutes, stir, then another 2 minutes, or until warm. When the rice is done, stir into the beans & tomatoes mixture.
Makes 5 one cup servings of 3 points each.
Low fat, low points pizza is one of the hardest things to achieve. Pizza is just naturally problematic, from the dough to the cheese. Tonight I made two pizzas which were flavorful and totally hit the spot, and allowed me to eat a lot without feeling horridly guilty.
The first primary ingredient is the pizza shell. Hannaford sells a 4 pack of pizza shells, about 8 inches across, which are only 6 points per total shell (roughly 120 calories per third of a shell). I use these for my base.
Hawaiian Pizza
(6) 1 Hannaford pizza shell
(0) 1/2 can diced tomatoes w/ garlic & onion
(1) 1/3 can diced pineapple, cut a little smaller
(1) 6 slices hillshire farm ham
(3) 3 tbsp grated romano cheese
Spread the tomatoes on the pizza shell. Sprinkle with pineapple and ham, then cover with romano cheese. Cook at 400 until golden brown.
Makes 4 servings of 3 points each.
Teriyaki Chicken Pizza
(6) 1 Hannaford pizza shell
(0) 1/2 can diced tomatoes w/ garlic & onion
(4) 4 oz teriyaki chicken breast, cooked and sliced in thin strips
(0) 1/2 onion, sliced
(4) 1/4 cup grated romano cheese
Spread tomatoes onto pizza shell. Sprinkle with onion and chicken. Cover with cheese. Cook at 400 until golden brown.
Makes 4 servings of 4 points each, or 2 servings of 7 points (yes, 7 points for half a pizza!).
1 15 oz container frozen sliced strawberries w/ nutrasweet, defrosted
1 1/2 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp water
1 pint fat free half & half
1/2 large container fat free cool whip
Stir corn starch into water to make a slurry. Add corn starch slurry to strawberries. Heat in microwave for three minutes, stirring after each minute. Juice will thicken.
Add strawberry mixture slowly to cream, stirring to mix well. Stir in cool whip until smooth.
Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions in an ice cream freezer. When done, place in freezer for 2 hours before serving.
This recipe began its life as one of the three sweet cream bases listed in the Ben & Jerry's ice cream cookbook. I started lightening it and adapting it from there.
Double-Fudge Swirl Ice Cream
1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup cocoa
1 pint fat free half & half
1/2 large container fat free cool whip
Whisk together cocoa and sweetened condensed milk until smooth and creamy. Set half aside in the fridge to cool. To the other half, add the half & half, and whisk until smooth. Add cool whip, whisk until smooth.
Freeze according to manufacturer's directions on your ice cream freezer. When almost frozen, swirl in the cold chocolate sweetened condensed milk. Place into a container and freeze for 2-4 hours before eating.
The fudge swirl fell to the bottom in mine, becaues the ice cream hadn't set up quite enough, but it still tasted delicious. This really satisfies the chocolate craving in a nice fat-free way.
This is based on the diet soda & milk combination my mom passed along to me recently. She told me that milk is one of the hardest things to get enough of, and that was a topic of conversation at a recent meeting. And Priscilla brought up the concept of a drink equal parts soda and skim or 1% milk. Use diet cream soda, or diet chocolate soda, and its a really nice drink that's big enough to be satisfying, and cheap enough in points.
So I took it one step further, and added ice and ice cream in my blender.
Milk Shake Freezy
(2) 1 cup skim/1% milk
(0) 1 cup ice
(0) 1 cup diet soda (frex, double-fudge)
(2) 1/2 cup fat free ice cream (or lowfat, as long as its 2 pts per 1/2 cup)
Place all items into a blender and cycle on high to chop ice. Pour into a LARGE cup. This could actually be shared for a 2 point drink, or keep it all to yourself for what tastes like a decadent treat. If you make a chocolate shake, sprinkle in some cinnamon extract for an extra snap of flavor.
Tonight's recipe was created by my wonderful garden. It may still be early in the season, but I have wonderful herbs and salad stuff.
Herbed Chicken
(18) 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
(0) 1/2 c mixed chopped fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme)
(1) 1 tbsp "I Can't Believe Its Not Butter Light"
(0) 2-3 baby bok choy (or spinach, or other leafy green)
Chop the herbs and mix with not-butter to make a paste. Lay out a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Place chicken thighs on one half of foil. Salt and pepper to taste. Spread herbs over top of chicken. Place leafs of bok choy or other leafy greens over chicken thighs.
Fold the foil over and seal long end. Seal each side end to form a packet. Place on indirect heat on the grill for 25 minutes.
Open and enjoy!
Makes:
3 servings of 6 points each OR
4 servings of 5 points each OR
6 servings of 3 points each
Garden Fresh Spaetzle
(0) 1/4 to 1/2 cup finely chopped mixed herbs (marjoram, summer savory, rosemary, sage)
(1) 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
(1) 1/2 c egg substitute
(12) 1 1/2 c flour
(0) 1/2 to 3/4 c water
(0) 1/2 tsp salt
(0) 1/4 tsp baking powder
(2) 2 Tbsp "I Can't Believe its not Butter Light"
Finely chop and then crush herbs in a morter and pestle, adding the olive oil to dampen.
Place egg substitute in a bowl and whisk. Add 1/2 c water and flour, and mix thoroughly (avoid the whisk -- it gets stuck in it). Add more water until a good consistency is achieved. Add salt, baking powder, and herb mixture, and mix thoroughly.
Place spaetzle maker (looks like a grater with huge openings and a cage on top) over a pot of boiling water and drip spaetzle dough into water. Simmer 2 minutes.
Drain (there always seems to be water retained with spaetzle, so don't worry about them being dry). Toss with not-butter.
Makes 4 servings of 4 points each.